Agentic AI is beginning to reshape the online shopping experience. From helping consumers discover new products and compare prices to surfacing personalised recommendations and the best available deals, shopping agents are becoming an increasingly influential part of the customer journey. As their role grows, retailers have an opportunity to become more visible to both new and existing customers through more relevant, personalised experiences.
The pace of change is only set to accelerate. UK consumer-agentic spending is expected to reach £131.2 billion by 2030, while 64%of UK consumers already say they want to use agentic AI as part of their shopping experience.
But success won’t be determined by AI capabilities alone. The retailers that stand out will be those that use AI to create experiences consumers value. That means delivering accurate recommendations, maintaining consumer choice and building trust through greater transparency. Getting those fundamentals right will determine whether agentic shopping reaches its full potential.
Winning product discovery in the age of AI
The biggest motivation for UK consumers to use agentic shopping tools is for guidance on purchase value, with 31% wanting help to find the best price, and 28% wanting AI to surface the most relevant products. For retailers, this means they not only need to be discoverable by humans but also visible to agents.
Without rich, structured data that AI agents can easily understand and interpret, products are far less likely to appear in recommendations, regardless of how suitable they may be to a shopper’s search. For shopping agents operating on a retailer’s own website, there is also the risk that recommendations about product specifics – from size and material to intended use – are inaccurate. Strong data foundations are therefore essential not only for visibility which increases sales opportunity, but also for ensuring shoppers can trust the guidance provided by a retailer’s own AI agents.
Balancing human judgement with automation
It’s important to understand that consumers don’t want AI agents to automate every step of the online shopping journey, and retailers need to recognise that distinction in how they deploy them.
While shoppers are happy for AI to help them browse, compare products and narrow down their options, 43% of UK shoppers are concerned about shopping agents buying products on their behalf. Likewise, 39% worry about bank account security breaches linked to these tools.
Rather than trying to automate the entire customer journey, retailers should focus on the parts of the experience where AI delivers the greatest value. From surfacing relevant products, comparing options and helping shoppers make more informed decisions. The retailers that strike the balance between automation and consumer control will ultimately be the ones that foster customer trust, and see an uplift in sales as a result.
Building trust through visibility
With one in five UK shoppers questioning the accuracy of AI-generated information, trust will be a competitive differentiator in a crowded market for retailers. This starts by improving transparency around how AI-generated suggestions are made, particularly when products are sponsored or promoted.
This is no different to how consumers expect transparency from search engines or online marketplaces. With 46% of UK shoppers believing brands should not be able to pay for preference within AI shopping tools, it must be clear when a suggestion is sponsored, rather than shoppers being led to assume it’s simply the best option. Equally, if a recommendation is based on a customer’s previous purchases, stated preferences or budget, that should be made clear.
Giving consumers visibility into why products are being recommended will help build confidence in the technology and encourage wider adoption. And as agentic shopping matures, the retailers that are most transparent about how AI reaches its recommendations will be best placed to earn trust and turn first-time users into loyal customers.
The future belongs to the retailers that earn consumer confidence
Building an AI shopping experience consumers want means looking beyond the technology itself. As AI becomes a more influential route to product discovery and purchasing, retailers that prioritise effective data foundations, transparency and consumer choice will be better positioned to earn trust and drive long-term loyalty.
With those fundamentals in place, agentic shopping can become a trusted part of the consumer journey.
Andrew Norman
Andrew Norman is GM EMEA at Commerce. With over 30 years in the SaaS sector, Andrew has extensive experience driving international growth, scaling operations, and optimising business performance. He is passionate about building and coaching high-performing teams, forging long-lasting partnerships, and delivering sustained value to customers, partners, and investors.
